By By SCOTT NOVAK / Niles Daily Star
BROOKLYN - Two legendary figures in NEXTEL Cup racing made their final appearance at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday.
Rusty Wallace and Mark Martin will retire from full-time NEXTEL Cup racing at the end of the season.
The pair visited MIS one final time to compete in the GFS Marketplace 400.
Wallace finished 12th and Martin 17th despite running in the top 10 much of the day.
Martin and Wallace are both in the thick of the "Race for the Chase" which has just three races left.
The top 10 drivers, plus anyone within 400 points of the NEXTEL Cup points leader will qualify for the Chase for the Championship" which begins after the Richmond race in September.
Wallace and Martin were honored by Michigan International Speedway officials prior to the start of Sunday's race.
The two were given a framed photo collage of their "memorable wins" at MIS.
Martin and Wallace addressed the crowd and then boarded separate trucks and took a lap around the track for one last salute.
Wallace won five times at MIS (5 Cup, 1 IROC, 1 ASA), while Martin won eight times (4 Cup, 2 Busch, 1 IROC and 1 ASA). Those numbers make the pair the winningest drivers at MIS.